


A Truth Not Quite Universally Acknowledged

by maraanan



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, Chrom!Inigo, F/F, M/M, Xanlow Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8140964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraanan/pseuds/maraanan
Summary: Xander's heart belonged to Inigo, even if he was expected to marry another.(Xanlow Week Day 1, "dance". Regency Era AU.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 1 of Xanlow Week, "dance".
> 
> Featuring: Not-Evil Garon, Lazy Surnames, and Possibly Several Historical Inaccuracies.

“You’re a little bit in love with my brother, aren’t you, Mr. de Nohr?” Lucina said to him one day, in a soft, low voice, so that their chaperone her mother would not hear.

Xander blinked at her, astounded by her forwardness. “Miss Exalt, I’m afraid I don’t know what to say to that.”

“I don’t mind,” Lucina said. “I am, of course, expected to marry someday someone of respectable standing—and wealth, might I add—such as yourself. What I feel for my future betrothed does not quite matter—though do not think that I hold you in disdain, Mr. de Nohr. You’re a very good friend to me.”

It was true, what she had said about marriage. Xander’s known this his entire life.

“Miss Exalt,” Xander said gravely. “You must not a speak a word of this to a single soul.”

“I will not, I assure you,” she said. “After all, I know what it’s like.”

Lucina turned away, and Xander followed her line of sight, out the window and into the courtyard, where a red-headed maidservant worked. Xander had been introduced to her once as Severa, who not only served the Exalts but was also Lucina’s friend since childhood. And at that moment, Xander understood.

There was the creaking sound of doors opening in another part of the house, and then bouts of ringing laughter.

“It appears that my brother and cousin are back from their walk,” Lucina said, a quiet smile on her face.

“Indeed,” Xander said. His heart fluttered as the staccato footsteps of Inigo’s boots louden, coming closer.

 

* * *

 

It started because of this:

Xander was sent into his father’s study the moment he came home from the war, having gotten injured in one battle. While his siblings greeted him with hugs and tears at the door, the maidservant came and informed Xander that his father had called for him. And thus he was pulled away from his siblings, without time to properly observe how tall Elise had grown, how clever Leo’s eyes had become, how both Corrin and Camilla were no longer little girls but strong, young women.

“Xander,” said his father, getting up from his desk and opening his arms. “Xander, my son, my son. Too long, my boy, you have been away for too long. Too long, and too far.”

Xander did not say anything; he only pat his father on the back as he embraced him.

After this brief show of affection his father immediately switched to business. “The estate neighbouring ours has been purchased at last, by the eldest son of the Earl of Ylisstol, who is to reside there along with his family. While you were gone fighting on the front lines your siblings have already become acquainted with Sir Exalt’s two children, and have found them both to be especially charming people. They are to hold a ball at their estate within a fortnight. You will attend and acquaint yourself with Miss Exalt, won’t you?”   
  
It did not take long for Xander to process what his father was asking of him. He had known that he would have to marry someday, and that the woman he would eventually marry would be someone chosen for her status and standing in society. After all, even his own parents did not love each other.

Xander was a soldier. To obey was all he had ever known. And so he nodded.

 

* * *

 

“Nohr, my good friend, indulge me,” said Inigo. He was lounging on the chaise in the drawing room, leaning his cheek into his palm. “Say that a wizard came up to you and gave you a choice: become invisible, never to be seen by anyone ever again, or speak with a very high, squeaky voice, to be ridiculed for the rest of your life. What would you choose?”

Xander looked up from his desk, where he was writing a letter. “And what kind of question is that?”

“A silly question, asked for the sole purpose of amusement,” Inigo said, giving him a lazy smile. “Well? Your answer is?”

Xander hummed. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to humor him. “I’d choose to be invisible,” he said, dipping his pen into his bottle of ink.

“Interesting,” said Inigo. “I would say the same, if I were the one being asked. Better to be hidden from sight than be seen as a fool.”

This was what was interesting about Inigo, Xander thought. At dinners and balls he gave such easy smiles and charming laughs. Knowing him in private revealed a shy, earnest boy. Inigo, in his heart, shrunk away from attention, and at the same time he craved affection.

Xander knew what it was like. After all, as a young child he was quite demure and afraid to talk to others. Only the pressures of society and being his father’s eldest son had forced him to push himself to become someone he was not. The confident persona he exhibited in public was something cultivated and practiced, never natural.

(He remembers the first time he had met Inigo, at the ball. He wore his red military uniform, at his siblings’ insistence. It would make you so much more handsome, Corrin had said. His leg wound had already been near-perfectly healed.

Lucina had turned out to be a sharp, intelligent woman, nearing the age twenty-seven and still unmarried. But Xander found himself more drawn to her brother Inigo and his smiling eyes, who he had the pleasure of conversing with, albeit only for a moment.

Xander had asked Lucina for a dance. All throughout that dance he could not help glancing in Inigo’s direction, and whenever their eyes met for the briefest second he would catch the movement of Inigo’s gaze shifting away, as if he had been staring at him as well.

He had brushed away the feelings in his stomach at first, telling himself that he was only looking out for Elise, who was Inigo’s partner at the time.)

While Xander returned to writing his letter, he heard the sound of shuffling and when he looked up Inigo was no longer lying on the chaise lounge but dancing by himself in the middle of the room, humming a tune.

“What are you doing?” Xander asked, a smile growing on his face.

“What does it look like?” said Inigo, his arms held out in front of him, holding an invisible partner. “I’m waltzing.“

Xander raised a brow. “Without a partner?”

“I’m afraid there is a shortage of ladies in this room at the moment.”

He huffed a laugh, and watched Inigo’s feet move with grace on the smooth flooring. His footwork was always beautiful, because Inigo actually liked dancing. Xander’s dancing was always mechanical and rigid, having only learned to dance because he was expected to.

Xander set his pen down. “You have a lovely voice,” he says, closing his eyes and just listening to the music of Inigo’s humming as he waltzes in mindless circles around the room. From outside the window he could hear the faint sound of birds chirping as well. Sunlight was pouring into the drawing room, reaching Xander’s desk and warming up the bare skin of his hands and face. He wished there was a way he could keep this moment forever, wished that this moment would not ever fade away.

Inigo stopped humming. Xander frowned. When he opened his eyes, Inigo stood in front of him, his hand outstretched.

“Yes?” said Xander.

Inigo smiled. “Dancing without any company becomes tiring, after a while,” he said. “Join me?”

Xander’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “I’m not quite sure… what if someone would—”

“No one else is here,” said Inigo, laughing. “Come on, Nohr. Please, for me?”

Xander’s hesitant hand reached for Inigo’s own. Inigo’s smile grew into a grin. All hesitation dissolved when they danced in the center of the drawing room, and Inigo looked at Xander in a way that made him feel special and important and wanted. There was no pianoforte, no violins or flutes, only Inigo and his voice. With him, Xander mattered not because of his name or his father or his medals, but because he was Inigo’s, and Inigo was his.

(He did not ever imagine a life like this, or having someone as precious as Inigo. All he expected was to grow old, marry a woman, have children, and pass on. Especially when he was still on the battlefield, seeing blood and death and even taking lives with his own rifle, his own hands. He did not think that a man such as himself could ever be blessed with happiness like this.)

“You must know, Mr. de Nohr,” Inigo whispered. “I strongly believe that if you were to offer my dearest sister a proposal, she would not refuse you. However, I must also tell you that she does not love you, and never can.”

“Well, Mr. Exalt,” Xander whispered back. “Your sister Miss Exalt is a respectable woman, and a fine friend, but I do not love her as well. In fact, I love another.”

Their waltz halted. They had stopped near the corner of the room, where they would be unseen from the windows. Inigo’s face was so close to his. “And who is this person you love, if I may ask?”

“A person I greatly respect, and consider my equal in all things,” said Xander. “Someone who has a generous, loving heart, kind eyes, and a smile that rivals the stars. One who is standing before me right now.”

Inigo let out a breath. “Xander…”

“Inigo,” said Xander. With gentle fingers he tipped up Inigo’s chin, his gaze briefly landing on his lips. “May I?”

“Someone might see.”

“No one else is here.”

Inigo laughed. “Touché,” he said. “Very well, then, go on.”

Xander leaned forward, lightly pressing his lips to Inigo’s.

He did not ask for much in life. They both knew the consequences of revealing the true nature of their relationship to the others. This was enough: dancing in quiet rooms and kissing in dark corners. A secret shared only between them.

Inigo’s eyes fluttered open when they parted. He smiled, and Xander smiled back. This was more than enough.


End file.
